Villeneuve Apologises to Button After Pit Mix-Up

Jenson Button was left fuming at teammate Jacques Villeneuve on Sunday after the Canadian former World Champion messed up the Briton's first Formula One race for BAR, but Button revealed Villeneuve did apologise for the mix-up.

Villeneuve blamed radio problems for pitting a lap after he had been asked to, when Button was supposed to come in instead.

Button, who was right in the Canadian's slipstream, realised too late what was going on and had no option but to follow him in and wait his turn in the queue, quietly seething at the confusion.

The incident happened on lap 25 of 58 and the pair eventually finished the race in ninth and 10th, with Villeneuve just under half a second ahead.

Button made it clear that he was not impressed by a less than welcoming teammate, a sometimes prickly character who has given Button the cold shoulder since the 23-year-old arrived at BAR from Renault.

"Jacques didn't come in when he was supposed to, he came in on my lap. So that was it really," he said. "I was a little bit shocked because I knew I was on the correct lap, I'd been told on the radio and saw it on the pit board. We get radio confirmation and we get a pit board but he came in on my lap, I don't know why. I think it was down to the radio or something.

"He did apologise at the time, which was needed I think."

BAR boss David Richards said Villeneuve's radio had failed. "I don't know whether he didn't see the pit board as well because they normally do both but the radio hadn't been working the whole race and that caused a lot of confusion."

Disappointing Result

The overall outcome was disappointing for a team that had promised to deliver some results at last after standing out in Saturday's practice.

Poor tyre choice, with the drivers starting on wet weather tyres as the asphalt dried, compounded their problems.

"We should have gone for slick tyres but it was a mistake. We didn't think it would dry that much," said Button. "Ferrari are obviously quick, Williams and McLaren also are, but apart from them I don't really know where anyone stands.

"I think we're quick. The car works very well in race conditions and if we had done the right thing and not made so many mistakes we would have been with the leaders.

"It's miles quicker than the Toyotas or the Jaguars on the circuit but we didn't get anywhere near a Ferrari, McLaren or a Williams."